


GO!

by Zee_McZed



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama and Humor, Gen, NO CAPES, Road Trip, Shadowy agencies, Slightly idiosyncratic world building, Ugly-ass station wagon, secret agents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 16:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6384499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zee_McZed/pseuds/Zee_McZed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There haven't been any capes on Earth since the Alien, back in the sixties. Cadmus and The Agency handle things. A field agent named Victor Stone is about to have his hands full, however - keeping four young metahumans safe by keeping them on the road... in a Buick Rambler.</p>
            </blockquote>





	GO!

**Author's Note:**

> The following is a non-profit fan-based derivative work. The DCAU and all related characters are owned by Warner Brothers and DC Comics. Please comment if you enjoy the work.

"Mister Stone."  
"Mister Luthor." The two men stared at each other, appraising each other. It was the first they had met face to face.   
"How long have you worked for the agency now?"   
"Three years. Give or take." Ever since the accident. He didn't need to vocalize that part - he knew. All too well. Stone was tall. Powerfully built. Bald - or rather, he shaved his head. Two long scars ran along one side of his scalp, giving him a suggestion of something dangerous. And if that didn't do the trick, something reddish glinted at the back of his right eye now and again. Luthor was his size - surprisingly. Tall and powerful, though he slouched somewhat in his chair. Also bald - no one could prove that he shaved his head, and no one could disprove it. He folded his hands in front of him.  
"In that time, you've had zero disciplinary actions. Zero writeups. Two spoken warnings..." He flipped a folder open. "Both regarding driving speed." Stone nodded. He had his opinions on the matter. No one listened to them. "In short, a model agent."  
"Sir, I got the... the feeling that I wasn't coming in for a commendation." He smiled grimly. Luthor did not.  
"I'm putting you in charge of Group T."   
"...Group what now?" He stood as Luthor did, walking a stride and a half behind him. Along the wall, towards the spiral stairs in the corner.   
"Our job is usually fairly straightforward. Find unregistered talents, and stop them from doing anything..." Luthor chewed over the word before deciding to go for the most obvious option. "Stupid."  
"Track, confront, and solve." Stone recited from memory. "Either register `em, or take them in if they won't for..." He gestured vaguely with one hand. "...whatever reason."  
"That would be the formula. The problem arises when certain individuals require special attention."  
"That's what Cadmus is for, right? Wait... you're shunting me to the Guardians?"  
"Mister Stone." His tone was less than amused. "Four years is not close to sufficient time for an agent to join those ranks." The hallway was actually quite warm - in decoration, anyway. Carpet. Framed art on the walls. A few old movie posters - all stuff from the fifties or earlier. The Mask of Zorro and the like. "I'm not talking about the trouble cases. I'm talking about the ones that require... special attention." A beat passed. "At-risk minors."  
"...za?" Luthor didn't respond verbally. He opened a door near the hallway's end.   
Inside was a low-slung coffee table and several sofas. A television was playing an old kung-fu flick - and three of the figures inside were watching intently, munching popcorn. They were, just as he'd insinuated, teenagers. Just a little younger than Stone himself, it seemed. He swallowed hard. "Sir?"  
"Agent Stone... this is Group T. From back to front here... Raven is the one trying to fade into the shadows in the corner there. Half-demon. Arcane adept... wanted by numerous E.S.G.I.'s." She glanced up from her book - a thick antique tome with a frayed green cover - at him. She was probably half his size, slimmish and... and... not just pale. She was grey. The effect was not, however, as eerie as one would have imagined. "She's also a polyglot, a voracious reader, and a fan of situations that are, in her words, low-drama."   
"If possible." She intoned. Her voice was a little raspy. He wondered, idly, if she smoked. The girl was trying to size him up - he knew that look. He decided against putting forward a hard front. [i]Just... play it calm...[/i]  
"Next to her, Garfield Logan..." He was green. "...shapeshifter. Able to switch to the form of any animal he knows of. Parents deceased... boating accident... currently wanted by... General Immortus."   
"What the-" Stone didn't get much out before Luthor cut him off.  
"Recurring power broker in Africa. It's a long story that he can catch you up on later." Stone shook his head. Didn't hear names like that anymore. Not since...  
"Short version?" Garfield piped up. "I'm kind of a badass."  
"No. No you aren't." Deadpan, but not irritated. If anything, he sounded as if he was trying not to be amused. Luthor flicked an errant piece of popcorn against his head. He laughed. "Lastly, Kori'andr and Kom'andr... Kori and Koma, for short. Princesses of Tamaran, sold into slavery when the planet was briefly conquered. Now on the run from several groups that want to use their political position for their own purposes." They were orange. He was trying to focus on something else, but all he could think of was the amazing technicolor teenagers. "You'll be keeping them mobile."   
"Mobile, sir?"  
"Your cover will be as a teacher and chaperon for a study-abroad group. You'll be on the road constantly. And-" He paused. Patted himself. Sighed. "...and this is where I'd give you your keys, but... it seems the hand off is going to be delayed another two minutes. We'll be right back." The teenagers barely acknowledged them leaving.  
The door closed. Luthor turned to him.  
"Initial impressions?" The flicker of red came to Stone's eye as he pondered that a second.  
"You want me to be honest, sir?"  
"Always." He looked vaguely amused by that - not the act that he'd given the teenagers. Genuinely amused.  
"I think you're not telling me everything here."  
"That's fairly clear, yes."  
"I think you're sticking me in charge of a group that's probably got all kinds of issues."  
"They're teenagers." Luthor mused, nodding.   
"I think that I'm not really qualified to be a babysitter."  
"Bodyguard." Luthor corrected, though not in a way that implied he wanted Stone to stop.  
"And I think you want to keep them mobile so people can't pin down where they're gonna be."  
"Precisely."   
"...Sir, give it to me straight. What's the connection?" For a second, he looked genuinely bemused.   
"The connection, Mister Stone?"  
"Right. There's gotta be a reason you've put these four together. Two aliens - and that's a bag of worms -"  
"Not as much as it would have been twenty years ago, but you're right."  
"A kid who can turn into animals and a demon." Stone rubbed his forehead.  
"Half-demon."  
"Right." There was a momentary pause.   
"There isn't a connection."  
"...really."  
"Genuinely. There's no single group that's targeting all four. There's no common reason why we put them together - other than the age. Sixteen to nineteen, all willing to cooperate, all needing protection. All you need to do..." Luthor fished a key from an interior pocket. "...is get them in a car, and go on a road trip. And keep your eyes open for trouble."   
"...odds of contact on my first week?"  
"Slim to none. We have each group looking elsewhere. Immortus will find Garfield soon, I'm sure, but he doesn't have much pull in the states..."  
"Wait." Stone straightened slightly. "I recognize that name."  
"...do you?"  
"Yeah. And I'm thinking he was involved with-"  
"Indirectly. But yes. The Alien did fight him twice." You could hear the capital "A". "...and both times he eluded capture." Stone took a deep breath. Closed his eyes. Outwardly, he said nothing. Inwardly, he was cursing up a storm - first English, then Spanish, then Russian. He stopped before he got to Esperanto, just because Esperanto was a godawful language to try to swear in.   
"Okay. Okay, I can deal with that. Cultists for demon-girl and wannabe galactic conquerors for the twins?"  
"Koma is older than Kori, and no. Terrestrial threats. Ones that think that kidnapping alien monarchy to use as a figurehead will get them recognized as legitimate governments. One can only imagine the tortured train of logic there."  
"The cults, though?" Stone wasn't going to let that go easily.   
"...probably." He nodded. "You'll have contact from field agents that are working to secure areas ahead of your path. Just keep the lines of communication open."  
"Always, sir." He extended a hand. Luthor shook it without hesitation. "...Al's got the car?"  
"As always. He's pulled some stuff from the sci-fi closet for this one."  
"...ooh." Stone rubbed his hands together, not even trying to hide his grin.   
"Just... ah... be careful. Alright? Especially with the Tamaranians." For a second, Luthor looked... pensive. Not nervous, but the slightest bit more concerned than normal. "They're emotional young women, and we don't want things to get worse for their kind." A few seconds passed. Stone nodded. "Take them. Their bags are in the car already." Stone nodded once more.   
"Sir." He turned on his heel and walked towards the room - and finally checked the key. And as he did, he groaned. Of all the cars to load up with Al's enhancements, they had to use-

-o-

"The 1957 Buick Rambler Cross Country wagon. Heavily modified, of course." Al looked like a wiry old hippie. He didn't have time for haircuts; his wavy red hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and he wore a (relatively) neatly cut beard, squinting through trifocal glasses constantly. It was a look that Stone had gotten used to. If the alien girls noticed the shift from the straight-laced agents to the tech guru, they didn't comment on it. Gar was kind of staring, though.  
"Of course." Stone crossed his arms. "Seriously, Al. Why you gotta do me like this? I know you got cars that actually perform worth a crap around here."  
"This one will perform... with the additions I've put in."   
"Oh, c'mon."  
"It's got K-Type armor. Nothing's going through that - windows or paneling." He rapped the side - it barely made a sound. And that got Stone's attention.   
"...you tellin' me that you really put the Good Stuff in this piece of junk?" Again, you could hear the capitalization - learning how to pronounce things that way wasn't exactly part of their training, but a body did pick it up.  
"All the Good Stuff. Micro life support system, a full sensor suite - not that you'll need it - and..." He reached in the window and popped the hood. "In place of the 190 horsepower dinosaur this thing originally came with..." He gestured - and Stone raised an eyebrow.  
"This thing's a Vette under the hood?"  
"Got the LS3 in there. I thought you'd approve."  
"...damn."   
"Not to interrupt the James Bond and Q moment, but... are we going to be heading out anytime soon?" Raven mumbled, sitting on the back bumper. Stone straightened up and shook his head.  
"Yeah, here in a sec. Just... wow. You see this thing?"  
"Kind of hard to from back here." You could hear the sarcasm dripping from her words.  
"It's a work of art!"   
"Thank you. I try." Al bowed slightly, grinning.   
"...it's a car." She muttered, and he just shook his head.   
"You'll understand one day. This... this thing is just... a masterpiece. Easy to work on, elegant in design... and it moves a car like almost nothing else." He stroked over the engine block, before closing it with a soft 'CHOONK'. "So! We going, or we going?" Raven sighed, and wordlessly opened the back door, climbing into the added third row of seats. Koma and Gar rushed for the shotgun seat at the same time - and for a second there was a stand-off. A glare from Koma. One from Gar - which melted immediately as he bowed.   
"Aftah YOU, my lady~" He intoned in an over-the-top southern accent. Koma just snickered.  
"Oh. Oh, if I knew you had manners, I would have taken a much more favorable view of you when we met." She slipped in and buckled up. Kori rolled her eyes, still practically beaming as she got in; Stone nodded to Al.   
"We'll be in touch."  
"I'm counting on it. And, ah... hey." He leaned in closer. "You been... checked out lately, right? Because I know I wasn't the last..."  
"Yeah. Yeah, I had Hartley do it when I was in Metropolis. It's cool."   
"You're-" He stopped short, nodding meaningfully.   
"Yeah. One hundred percent kosher." Stone patted the shorter man on the shoulder. Al just sighed.   
"`Kay. Just... let me know if anything pops up."  
"I'm fine. Really."   
"But if you're not-"  
"Al! I'll call ya!" He laughed, piling in. The engine came to life with a throaty growl, turning around the corner and into a subterranean parking garage; two more quick turns (and the car was nippy for an ugly station wagon...!), and they found themselves on a back road, heading towards the freeway. He glanced at the itinerary on the dash.   
Next stop... little more than a pit-stop, somewhere in the middle of Kansas. Well. So much for excitement. "So..." He started... and then stopped. He'd just been thrown together with four people he didn't know, all of whom were being hunted, one of which probably had a pretty sharp tongue.  
How the hell did you break the ice with that?


End file.
